It’s a new month and another gameday as the Carolina Hurricanes started off February against the Los Angeles Kings. It was the first meeting of the season between the two teams as they look to start the second month of 2025 on the right foot. The Hurricanes looked to continue their seven-game point streak, while the Kings looked to play spoilers to one of the top teams in the NHL. As the final horn sounded, the Kings won the first meeting 4-2 at the Lenovo Center.
Game Recap
The first period saw lots of action as Juha Jääskä got into his first NHL fight when Akil Thomas boarded him face-first into the boards. The play went uncalled, which led to the quick win for Jääskä. However, the Hurricanes did break the ice as Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored his 11th goal of the season. He tipped an initial shot from Sean Walker from the blue line. It was Kotkaniemi’s seventh point in the last seven games. What a way to stay red-hot for the Hurricanes. Shayne Gostisbehere got the secondary assist on the Kotkaniemi goal.
Related: Carolina Hurricanes’ 3 Stars of January
The Kings tied the game as Phillip Danault took advantage of a missed hooking call after Dmitry Orlov was taken down behind the Hurricanes goal. It was certainly a wild first 20 minutes in the first game between the two sides. Shots were tied at 11.
The second period saw two goals by the Kings in the way of Trevor Moore and Kevin Fiala. Moore scored his seventh of the season as he managed to float the puck by Frederik Andersen in the middle of a scrum in front of the net. Later in the period, Fiala forced the puck off Orlov and drove to the Hurricanes net. He managed to wait out Andersen and slot the puck into a pretty much open net to double the Kings’ lead.
However, the Hurricanes had a plethora of chances, especially the Mikko Rantanen, Sebastian Aho, and Jackson Blake line. They were all over the Kings with an abundance of looks but somehow the visitors kept every chance out. It seemed that through the period there were questionable quick whistles, missed penalties, and called penalties that were not.
Related: Rantanen & Hurricanes End January with a 3-2 Win Over Blackhawks
The third period saw Eric Robinson net his 12th goal of the season for the Hurricanes to tie his career high. He managed to do it in 19 fewer games. Also, Brent Burns got the assist on the goal to notch his 900th career NHL point. However, the comeback did not happen as Fiala scored…
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